Fried Salted Fish
Chapter 42 Divine Sect Acknowledges its Faults
Zhu Changluo raised his head, looking at the high sky, misty with rain. He laughed miserably.
“Humans propose, Heaven disposes; events have inevitable causes, and principles have inherent reasons.”
Planning matters lies with people, but whether or not they succeed depends on Heaven's will. Events are bound to happen, and principles are inherently so. Some things, no matter how much you try to prevent them, will still occur. This is according to the inherent laws of things, and cannot be changed.
Zhu Changluo no longer knew what to say. Trusting Heaven was useless, and trusting people was even more useless. He truly didn't have the fate to change anything, and instead made the future even worse.
Just as Zhu Changluo was laughing miserably, the Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet and the armored soldiers of the Banner Guards finally followed the sound and found West Second Long Street.
Zhu Changluo first looked up to the sky, then lowered his head, standing there without saying a word, his expression pale.
The Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet, seeing this scene, didn't know what had happened here. Seeing that the Emperor and his entourage were unharmed, they breathed a sigh of relief.
“It's wonderful that His Majesty and the Prince are both safe.”
The Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet arrived late with their men, kneeling down in a large group. Those Banner Guards and Great Han Generals knelt on one knee, all proclaiming their guilt.
The Wanli Emperor, who had just been in a daze, was finally awakened.
Evil God? The three elders of the Inner Cabinet exchanged glances, thinking of the fire sprites that had escaped earlier.
They hadn't seen the Three Fire Gods and Song Wuji, let alone the Fire Lord. They were completely unaware of what had happened in the inner palace.
“Did the Eldest Prince come in? Did you see him?”
The Wanli Emperor asked specifically, and the Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet quickly replied:
“The Eldest Prince entered the fire alone, concerned that Your Majesty might encounter disaster. He risked his own life, and his filial piety moved the heavens and gods… Perhaps Your Majesty is angry because the Eldest Prince entered the West Sixth Palace…”
“Is that so? You are all blameless, rise… The Evil God is dead, thanks to the Daoist of Longde Hall for saving My life.”
“The mastermind has already appeared.”
The Wanli Emperor's tone was strange, and what he said left the three Grand Secretaries confused.
Of course, the three Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet quickly understood.
Zhu Changluo was enlightened by Ji Xiang. Although he was still confused, he had completely given up. He said to the Wanli Emperor:
“My heart is as ashes, let you do with me as you please.”
Zhu Changluo's words made the Wanli Emperor laugh, like a declaration of victory, and also like a regret:
“Yes, you lost, of course I will do with you as I please! I really didn't expect that you would have such a powerful scheme. Just a little bit, a little bit more, Changge, and you would have killed Me!”
“You're right, you are the child of a palace maid, and I am also the child of a palace maid. I can sit on the throne, so can you! Back then, the Longqing Emperor didn't like Me, but I became the Emperor! Now I don't like you, and you almost became the Emperor.”
“Unfortunately, compared to Me, you lacked a little planning, and also a little luck.”
“Heaven has a fixed number. It wasn't that Heaven helped Me. Tonight, the national prestige would have been destroyed, Doumu would have lost her light, and not a single nail on the gate of the Forbidden City moved. In this vast palace, except for the accident at Longde Hall, who else would have come to help Me?”
“It's that your preparations were insufficient, and you didn't know that there were great powers in Longde Hall!”
The Wanli Emperor's expression was also slightly crazed. Although he himself didn't know about this variable, the lucky one was the winner.
The three Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet already understood the situation and turned pale:
“Eldest Prince, could it be that the fire tonight was…”
“I set it!”
Zhu Changluo opened his arms, welcoming the wind and rain. At this time, the rain was gradually lessening, and the wind was also subsiding. The time of the talisman was almost up.
He laughed, facing the sky: “The Three Fire Gods burned the Rear Three Palaces, and dozens of fire sprites burned the Front Three Halls! Together with the West Sixth Palace and Longde Hall, four Fire Gods and one Fire Lord, I colluded with them, spending two or three years planning, and turned the Forbidden City upside down!”
“Just one step away, and the sun and moon would have been reopened!”
The Grand Secretaries looked shocked. In the past, they supported Zhu Changluo only because they didn't want to see the situation of abolishing the eldest and establishing the youngest, causing national chaos. To say that they had any relationship with Zhu Changluo, they really didn't.
But now, Zhu Changluo had caused such a huge disaster. What the three Grand Secretaries thought was that this time, the struggle over the foundation of the nation was coming to an end. The eldest son would inevitably be kicked out, and the fifth son, Zhu Changxun, was really lying down and becoming the Crown Prince. He didn't know anything, and woke up from his sleep to win completely.
The Wanli Emperor said to the three Grand Secretaries:
“You want to support My eldest son and make him the Crown Prince, but look, look at the current Forbidden City! What kind of person is the Eldest Prince you support?”
“Of course, it's My fault that he became like this. This eleven-year struggle over the foundation of the nation, whether Changge becomes the Crown Prince or Wuge becomes the Crown Prince, all of this is finally coming to an end. All of this struggle originated from Me; all of this chaos originated from Me; all of this sin originated from Me.”
“Today, the fire in the Forbidden City burned down the Nine Palaces and Four Halls, killing more than three hundred people, all of which is My fault!”
The Wanli Emperor's voice was firm, confessing his guilt. The three Grand Secretaries immediately bowed. At this time, they should comfort the Emperor, but how should they comfort him? The struggle over the foundation of the nation was originally a war of words between the Emperor and the civil official group!
Even if they wanted to help the Emperor find a way out, they couldn't think of anything to say for a while.
The Wanli Emperor's tone was low, but gradually became high-pitched: “I have already sent someone to notify the Northern Garrison Division. Changge has agreed to let Me dispose of him. Are you going to plead for him? Plead quickly!”
“If you don't plead now, whoever dares to plead later, I will arrest him!”
The Wanli Emperor glared, speaking fiercely. The three Grand Secretaries didn't speak, remaining silent, only looking at the Eldest Prince with regret.
The Wanli Emperor's chest rose and fell, calming his emotions, and then slowly said to Zhu Changluo:
“Changge, you can no longer be the Crown Prince, and you have committed a serious crime. Although I will take you to the Northern Garrison Division, I will not kill you, because you are still a member of the Ming royal family. Therefore, according to the laws of the Ming royal family, you should go to Fengyang… go to the Zhu family in Fengyang, and never come back.”
Of the three families under Heaven, the Kong family of Shandong, the Zhang family of Jiangxi, and the last family is the Zhu family of Fengyang.
Fengyang is the hometown of the Ming Taizu, and now, there is a Fengyang high wall, the last of the three families under Heaven. The Zhu family clan gathered here are all criminals exiled by the Ming royal family.
And there is a general term for this place—the hell of the vassal kings.
Zhu Changluo smiled. The earliest person imprisoned in the Zhu family of Fengyang was the son of the Jianwen Emperor. Some people dared not go to the Zhu family of Fengyang, even if it meant dying by crashing into a pillar.
But Zhu Changluo didn't think so. He even showed a look of relief:
“The Forbidden City is also a prison, and Fengyang is also a prison, so there is no difference! Not for the Crown Prince, not for the world, not for those things that are destined to fail. Heaven despises me!… I am an incompetent person, and now I can only live for myself.”
“You haven't attended court for nine years, living in the harem, drawing a circle as a prison. What's the difference between you and those people in Fengyang! Hahahaha!”
Zhu Changluo laughed loudly, and the Wanli Emperor's head ached.